This invention relates to a protective device for reducing the incidence of injuries due to falls.
The dangers of slippery, ice covered driveways and sidewalks and other surfaces are well known to most people from personal experience. The incidence of injuries from accidental falls is particularly acute among the aged. Many elderly suffer painful hip injuries each year, even from falls occurring within the premises of old age homes and other institutions.
Many studies have been undertaken in an effort to isolate the causes of falls among the elderly, particularly in the institutional settings devoted to their care. Despite the vast amount of research into the causes of injuries among the aged, little or nothing has been done to alleviate the problem, except for an active restraint system which is currently under development. That system entails the attachment of tracks to ceilings inside buildings which house the elderly. The patients in the health care institutions would be required to fasten, or have fastened to their persons, a tether extending to a car riding along the track.
Such a system clearly has many disadvantages. It would be inordinately unwieldy and expensive. Moreover, the users of the system would be greatly restricted in their ambulatory travels. Another disadvantage of such a system is that it appears to be inhumane and will contribute to demoralization of the elderly.
Another solution which is currently being investigated and developed is to provide each elderly citizen with an inflatable bag. Such a bag would be equipped with a motion detector or other monitor(s) which would sense that a fall is in progress. Upon detecting a fall, the sensor would activate a pressure source to rapidly expand the bag and thereby cushion the individual from the impact of the fall.
Such a solution, although not nearly as complex as the federal proposal, involves delicate sensor control and may be prone to failure. Moreover, the cost of such an inflatable bag device may be prohibitive to many elderly individuals.